Starmer allies urge him to block Andy Burnham from running in byelection

Keir Starmer’s allies are urging him to block Andy Burnham from running in the Gorton and Denton byelection, after the Greater Manchester mayor declared his intention to stand, setting up a potential fight for the prime minister’s political future.Burnham said on Saturday he wanted to contest the seat after the sitting MP, Andrew Gwynne, said he intended to stand down.Burnham’s allies – including ministers, MPs and trade union chiefs – say that as one of the country’s most high-profile and popular Labour politicians, he must be allowed to fight the seat and attempt a return to parliament.But with the Manchester mayor having made no secret about his leadership ambitions, those close to the prime minister were on Friday night urging him to take steps to prevent Burnham standing.“If Keir doesn’t make the call [to block Burnham], it’s game over,” said one

‘The best interests of our party’: Andy Burnham’s letter to Labour NEC in full

Dear Chair,I write to seek the permission of the NEC to enter the process for the selection of Labour’s candidate for the forthcoming Gorton and Denton byelection.This has been a difficult decision for me to make and I thought it would help members of the NEC if I shared my reasoning in reaching it.Of course, nobody wanted or expected a byelection at this time and I have given careful thought to what is in the best interests of our party and the city-region I represent.With that in mind, I have come to the conclusion that this is the moment to mount the strongest possible defence of what we stand for and what we have built in this city over many generations.Manchester inspires because it is a place that has always stood for the equality of all people, right back to the cotton workers of 1862 who refused to handle slave-picked cotton

Red meat, no lettuce: Nigel Farage and Liz Truss attend private lunch after week of Tory defections

If it was on the menu, a side helping of lettuce never made it to the table. Over blood-red steak and chips, Nigel Farage and Liz Truss came together on Monday for a discreet lunch at a swish Mayfair club, organised by a climate-denying US thinktank.Lois Perry, a former leader of the far-right Ukip party who is now Europe director of the Heartland Institute, posted photographs, now deleted, on X of Farage addressing others, including Truss, at the meal.While Reform UK appears to be keeping the former prime minster at arm’s length publicly, despite welcoming other former Tories, the gathering at Mark’s Club organised by the Heartland Institute raises potentially fresh awkward questions for the party.“Liz Truss would not be welcome in Reform UK,” the party’s press team replied within seven minutes of being asked by the Guardian if the party would ever allow the UK’s shortest-serving prime minister into its ranks

Starmer faces pressure not to block Andy Burnham’s return to parliament

Keir Starmer is facing mounting pressure not to block Andy Burnham from making a comeback to parliament, with Angela Rayner planning to urge No 10 to let him stand in a forthcoming byelection.The prime minister’s allies have been trying to prevent Burnham’s return as a candidate in the Greater Manchester seat of Gorton and Denton, amid fears he could challenge the leadership.However, a string of Labour MPs and the boss of Britain’s biggest union, Unison, warned on Friday that the party must ensure a democratic process and avoid a stitch-up.Rayner, the former Labour deputy leader, is understood to be supportive of Burnham standing if he wants to, and is expected to argue he should be allowed to when she speaks at Labour’s north-west regional conference on Saturday.The timeline for candidates to make a decision is extremely tight, with applications opening at 5pm on Friday, a deadline to seek permission from the national executive committee (NEC) 24 hours later, and applications closing on Sunday shortly before midnight

Nigel Farage’s trip to Davos hosted and paid for by family trust of billionaire

Nigel Farage’s trip to Davos this week was hosted and paid for by the $10bn family trust of an Iranian-born billionaire, the Guardian has learned.The leader of Reform UK has been touring Davos this week, giving speeches in which he pledged to tax banks and “fight the globalists”.But in a surprising entry, he is listed on the programme for the World Economic Forum as a member of parliament and a representative of HP Trust, which describes itself as the “family office of Sasan Ghandehari” with a portfolio value in excess of $10bn (£7.4bn).A representative for the trust said Farage had been invited to Davos by Ghandehari, a venture capitalist, as an honorary and unpaid adviser to his impact investment portfolio focused on philanthropic activities, particularly in the Middle East

UK politics: Trump’s Nato claims ‘insulting and frankly appalling’, says Starmer –as it happened

Keir Starmer has condemned Donald Trump’s claim that Nato allies did no properly fight alongside the US in Afghanistion. In a pooled clip that has just been broadcast, he sounded genuinely angry.Starmer said:Let me start by paying tribute to 457 of our armed services who lost their lives in Afghanistan.I will never forget their courage, their bravery and the sacrifice that they made for their country.There are many also who were injured, some with life-changing injuries